Find out about radon gas online

By Howard Lestrud on January 5, 2011 at 2:06 pm

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that as many as eight million homes in the United States currently have elevated levels of radon gas.

EPA predicts that if action is not taken to correct this problem, between 15,000 and 22,000 deaths will occur in 2011 from exposure to the gas.

Radon is identified as the leading cause of cancer.

To help prevent this threat, we all should have a knowledge of what radon is and how we can test our homes for it.

The EPA has officially designated January 2011 to be National Radon Action Month in the United States.

The press, local health departments and the media have been encouraged to help save lives in 2011 by promoting this call to action.

Radon is a naturally-occurring, radioactive gas that seeps out of the ground and can enter homes and other buildings.

Since radon is invisible and odorless, the only way to know if a home has dangerous levels of the gas is to conduct a radon test.

Radon problems have been found in every county in the U.S., thus the Surgeon General is recommending all homes tested.

Radon reportedly causes more deaths each year in the U.S. than any other in-home hazard including fires and carbon monoxide deaths combined.

To find out more about National Radon Month, go to http://radonmonth.wordpress.com/

Radon gas is produced by the breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water.

Because radon is a gas, it can enter buildings through openings or cracks in the foundation.

The radon gas itself decays into radioactive solids, called radon daughters.

The radon daughters attach to dust particles in the air, and can be inhaled.

The inhalation of radon daughters has been linked to lung cancer.

Radon has been identified as the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States (second only to smoking.)

The Environmental Protection Agency reports that radon causes between 15,000 and 22,000 lung cancer deaths every year in the United States.

At the radon month website, you will find a video (YouTube) that will be most helpful in explaining the reasons why testing a home or business for radon is so important.

Let’s read further: “Every home should be tested for radon regardless of where the home is located, the age of the home, foundation type, or whether or not the home is in an area where homes are prone to having radon problems.

“Homes with elevated radon levels have been found in practically every county in the United States.

“The United States Environmental Protection Agency has established that if a home or building is found to have a radon level of 4 pCi/l or higher, action should be taken to reduce it.

In most cases, radon levels can be reduced to 2 pCi/l or lower with the installation of an active (fan-assisted) venting system.

As of September 2009, the World Health Organization has established an action level of 2.7 pCi/l (100 Becquerel per cubic meter.)

“Radon’s primary hazard is caused from inhalation of the gas and its highly radioactive heavy metallic decay products (polonium, lead and bismuth) which tend to collect on dust in the air.

“The problem arises when these elements stick to the delicate cells lining the passageways leading into the lungs.

“Radon decay products in combination with uranium-ore dust induced a progression of activity from single basal cell hyperplasia in bronchioles to malignant tumors in male hamsters when exposed by inhalation.

“Lung tumors observed were adenomas, adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas; bronchiolar and alveolar metaplasia, adenomatous lesions, fibrosis and interstitial pneumonia were also observed.

When administered by inhalation in combination with decay products, uranium-ore dust and cigarette smoke, radon-induced nasal carcinomas, epidermoid carcinomas, bronchio-alveolar carcinomas and fibrosarcoma were observed in dogs of both sexes.

“In general, a significant increase was observed in respiratory tract tumors in rats and dogs in comparison with unexposed animals.

“A dose-response relationship was noted in those experiments with rats in which radon was tested.

“In most instances, tumors at sites other than the lung were not reported, but in one study, mention was made of tumors of the upper lip and urinary tract in rats.”

How radon enters

Radon moving through soil pore spaces and rock fractures near the surface of the earth usually escapes into the atmosphere.

Where a house is present, however, soil air often flows toward its foundation for three reasons:

• differences in air pressure between the soil and the house,

• the presence of openings in the house’s foundation, and

• increases in permeability around the basement (if one is present).

Mitigation answer

When a building (or house) is found to have an elevated level of radon gas (defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a radon result of 4.0 pCi/l or higher,) methods of reducing the radon levels can be applied to cure the problem.

The most common method of radon mitigation (also known as radon remediation or radon gas abatement) is Active Soil Depressurization (ASD.)

An ASD Radon Mitigation System utilizes PVC piping attached to an electric radon suction fan.

The piping typically begins below the lowest floor of the structure’s foundation (penetrating the slab of the basement or the plastic membrane of the crawl space) and extends upward to an exit point above ground level.

For mitigation Air Quality Control (952-935-2118) serves many Twin Cities area communities including Rogers, Farmington, Lakeville, Lindstrom, Rosemount, Elk River and Burnsville.

The Minneapolis Radon Mitigation Company has equipment for the counties of Ramsey, Washington, Dakota, Anoka, Isanti and Chisago.

To learn more about radon gas, visit these informative websites: Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.epa.gov/radon/index.html); World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs291/en/) ; Centers for Disease Control (http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/brochure/profile_radon.htm); National Cancer Institute (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/radon); American Lung Association (http://www.lungusa.org/healthy-air/home/resources/radon.html); Radon Mitigation Systems (http://www.mitigationsystem.com/); U.S. Surgeon General (http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/pressreleases/sg01132005.html); American Cancer Society (http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/OtherCarcinogens/Pollution/radon) and Toxic Substances & Disease Registry. (http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/substances/toxsubstance.asp?toxid=71).